Think of it as your basic love story. Vampire meets girl. Vampire likes girl. Vampire sinks fangs into girl's neck.OK, OK, so maybe it's not exactly like "Romeo and Juliet." It is, however, a lot like "Dark Shadows," the revamped cult favorite that has brought the 175-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins back from the dead.But the show, which airs at 9 p.m. Fridays on WMAR-TV, is only the latest example of growing interest in the living dead, which some say exploded with the success of Anne Rice's vampire novels.

On April 22, 2006, CHARLIE BARNABA; dear brother of Rose M. Coleman and Samuel S. Barnaba. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road (beltway exit 26A), on Thursday from 10 to 11 A.M, at which time a funeral service will be held. Intermen Most Holly Redeemer Cemetery. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to The Arc of Howard County, 11735 Homewood Road, Ellicott City, MD 21042.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,Sun Television Critic | January 11, 1991

Los Angeles --"Dark Shadows" is being called all kinds of things.Its creator, Dan Curtis, calls it a "fantasy." Its star, Ben Cross, calls it a "vampire tale." Still others have tagged it a horror story or a campy sendup of the popular original, which ran on ABC as an afternoon serial from 1966 to '71.Part of the trouble with "Dark Shadows" is that it contains elements of each of those formulas -- to the point of confusing some viewers. One minute, you're shown a corpse with a bloody, mangled neck.

The congregation of Sykesville's St. Barnabas Episcopal Church will celebrate Pentecost - the beginning of Christianity - along with most of the Christian world Sunday. Members will celebrate the feast day of its patron saint, St. Barnabas. They will also mark the recent arrival of a new pastor, the Rev. Earl Mullins, after a long search process. And they will celebrate the church's sesquicentennial - the 150th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the picturesque stone church in which they worship.

Building a ministry in SandtownA group of young white suburbanites came to West Baltimore's Sandtown area in 1988 to establish a Christian ministry called New Song Fellowship. One of the group's goals was to start a Habitat for Humanity housing program in the poor, predominantly black community.Three years later, the Sandtown Habitat for Humanity has rebuilt four vacant houses with volunteer labor and privately donated funding and materials, and then sold them at cost to local families. The monthly mortgage payment for each house is about $200.

Around St. Barnabas parish, Esther Mercer is widely regarded as the queen of pancakes. She rules on Shrove Tuesday, when the Sykesville church serves upward of 500 pancake lunches and suppers. She organizes volunteers, oversees the kitchen and mingles with the guests. She is asked frequently, but never divulges the secret of the batter that is griddled into fluffy, dinner plate-size pancakes. "I have used the same recipe here for 30 years, and made thousands and thousands of pancakes," she said yesterday.

Around St. Barnabas parish, Esther Mercer is widely regarded as the queen of pancakes. She rules on Shrove Tuesday, when the Sykesville church serves upward of 500 pancake lunches and suppers. She organizes volunteers, oversees the kitchen and mingles with the guests. She is asked frequently, but never divulges the secret of the batter that is griddled into fluffy, dinner plate-size pancakes. "I have used the same recipe here for 30 years, and made thousands and thousands of pancakes," she said yesterday.

On April 25, 2005, VELMA M. MELOF passed away at home after a long illness. She was preceded in death by her husband Easton Melof, her sister Mary Katherine De Bartolo of Chicago, IL, brothers Thomas Fortner of Oak Ridge, TN, and Harry Fortner of Dresden, TN. She is survived by her son, Don Melof (Mary) of Birmingham, her daughters Sandra Melof of Birmingham, and Cheryl Dyer (Mike) of Laurel, MD; four grandchildren Theresa Renee Melof of Hillsboro, Oregon, Bruce Allen Melof of Birmingham, Michael Patrick Dyer (Sadie)

On January 27, 2005, ELSIE MARIE BARNABAE (nee Harvel), wife of the late Nazzareno (Joseph) Barnabae. She is survived by devoted daughter Helen M. Blowers, beloved grandson John M. Blowers, and great-granddaughters Kimberly G. and Julia L. Blowers. A Memorial Service is to be held in the Crusaders For Christ Church, 2925 Delmar Avenue, Edgemere, MD 21219, 410-477-8483, Pastor Dennison, will preside on Tuesday, February 1, 2005, at 2 P. M

The pancakes being poured, flipped and served at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Sykesville yesterday were cookbook-perfect - tender, dinner plate-sized circles of golden-brown batter doused in rivers of melted butter and syrup. "Just wonderful," pronounced Stephen P. Bourexis, a town attorney who stopped in for a plate of blueberry pancakes and sausage before a morning court date in Westminster. For 35 of the past 40 years that the church has held its Shrove Tuesday pancake lunch and supper, Esther Mercer has presided over the preparation of an estimated 35,000 plain and blueberry pancakes at the annual event.

The pancakes being poured, flipped and served at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Sykesville yesterday were cookbook-perfect - tender, dinner plate-sized circles of golden-brown batter doused in rivers of melted butter and syrup. "Just wonderful," pronounced Stephen P. Bourexis, a town attorney who stopped in for a plate of blueberry pancakes and sausage before a morning court date in Westminster. For 35 of the past 40 years that the church has held its Shrove Tuesday pancake lunch and supper, Esther Mercer has presided over the preparation of an estimated 35,000 plain and blueberry pancakes at the annual event.

On April 25, 2005, VELMA M. MELOF passed away at home after a long illness. She was preceded in death by her husband Easton Melof, her sister Mary Katherine De Bartolo of Chicago, IL, brothers Thomas Fortner of Oak Ridge, TN, and Harry Fortner of Dresden, TN. She is survived by her son, Don Melof (Mary) of Birmingham, her daughters Sandra Melof of Birmingham, and Cheryl Dyer (Mike) of Laurel, MD; four grandchildren Theresa Renee Melof of Hillsboro, Oregon, Bruce Allen Melof of Birmingham, Michael Patrick Dyer (Sadie)

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church of Sykesville will install the Rev. Walter Earl Mullins as its rector Saturday. The Right Rev. Robert W. Ihloff, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, will officiate at the service, which will begin at 10 a.m. Since Mullins began his ministry at St. Barnabas on Easter Sunday this year, the vestry has begun expanding its work in the community, broadening its ministry with seniors, youths, young families and children....

The congregation of Sykesville's St. Barnabas Episcopal Church will celebrate Pentecost - the beginning of Christianity - along with most of the Christian world Sunday. Members will celebrate the feast day of its patron saint, St. Barnabas. They will also mark the recent arrival of a new pastor, the Rev. Earl Mullins, after a long search process. And they will celebrate the church's sesquicentennial - the 150th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the picturesque stone church in which they worship.